LITH’s lights to shine, but help needed

After months of meetings and soliciting community input, the Woodland Heights Civic Association has decided to keep the Lights in the Heights party going this fall, but like always, they’re going to need some help to pull it off.
In an email sent out earlier this week, the association’s board claims to have made changes to the 23-year-old free holiday block party, “while trying to still retain the essence of what makes the event so terrific.”
The changes were prompted by neighborhood concerns over public drunkenness, vandalism, profiteering off a community event and, in general, problems that accrue when up to 50,000 people by some estimates descend on a neighborhood for several hours of intense holiday partying.
Among the changes planned to alleviate these problems are:

Earlier start: Revising the hours from 5-8 p.m. instead of last year’s 6-10 p.m. This is planned to get the streets cleared earlier, and thus ending the late night revelry.Parade: De-emphasizing the parade while “increasing its ties to the community.”No trucks: Removing food vendors at the Norhill esplanade and street corners.Police enforcement: Working with the police to enforce laws, especially with regard to illegal drinking and parking.

But of course, even with these changes Lights in the Heights will still be one of the bigger holiday events around the neighborhood, as per usual. So the association’s board is on the lookout for community volunteers who love LITH to step forward and help.
As of mid-July, every position is open, all the way from overall chair and entertainment and security coordinators, to porch entertainment, route, decorations and luminaria chairs and basically anything that needs to be done.
A meeting for LITH volunteers will be held at Zion Lutheran Church, 3606 Beauchamp at Pecore, at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, July 23.
For more information, visit www.woodland-heights.org or email president@woodland-heights.org.